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With the release of her fourth studio CD, The Declaration, Ashanti continues to do what she does best — play her well respected position, stay in her distinctive lane and make good music.

Long-standing fans are sure to be satisfied with her latest opus which is filled with the clever songwriting that set off their love affair back in the day when she was younger and foolish — only this time Auntie Ashanti is all grown up and is taking matters into her own hands — both literally and lyrically. The epic single “The Way That I Love You” leads her first set without Irv Gotti’s seemingly requisite hand-holding and is the prelude to the much needed independence and growth every chanteuse must experience once she sheds her Svengali.

Aptly titled tracks like “You’re Gonna Miss,” “So Over You” and “Struggle” provide the platform for the therapeutic venting female fans are sure to identify with. However, don’t expect slow, drawn out lamenting. Each sound-off is set to an aggressive track that asserts the kind of strength we’ve grown to expect from Ashanti.

The Declaration truly begins to thrill with “Things You Make Me Do” featuring Robin Thicke. The midtempo joint is the perfect combination hustle and flow to ride out to with the top back. Meanwhile, the bounce of radio-ready tracks like “Body On Me” featuring Nelly and Akon and my personal favorite “Good Good,” produced by Jermaine Dupri, are sure to be heat seekers both on the charts and in the streets.

Rounding out this CD are tracks like the Babyface produced “Mother,” a love note to her greatest source of strength and the inspirational “Shine.” Both songs serve as testaments of survival from her personal journey, giving way to what Ashanti deems a “declaration of self.

This latest effort proves that in many ways Ashanti is like a Snapple. Yeah, a Snapple. You know how Coca Cola and Pepsi spend so much time trying to outperform each other? Well, Ashanti is like Snapple in that she is equally as satisfying, just a distinctively different choice. She can come out with all sorts of flavors (remix CDs, sci-fi flicks and perfumes) yet she still have her own set of fans despite not necessarily being the caught up in the hype of who is the hottest chick in the game. Instead, she just does her own thing.

Go ahead, twist the cap and have a swig, it’s quite refreshing.

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